My Top 8 Most Favorite Beet Recipes

Photo by Emma Christensen for The Kitchn

When the phone rings around 3pm and it's my mom calling from Minnesota, I know she has a dinner emergency. What goes with potatoes besides dill or rosemary because she's all out of that? (Thyme!) Can she freeze pesto with the olive oil in it? (Yes!) Would it be weird to add cherries to this turkey dish? (Erm...Maybe?)

I've come to love these phone calls and the roll reversal they inherently imply. After all, it wasn't that long ago when I was the one setting off smoke alarms and calling her in a panic. It's usually the middle of my work day when she calls, so she knows we can't chit chat and I trust that she knows that I can't chit chat. And we both know that we'll save our chit chatting for the weekend. It all works out just fine.

The other day, Mom called with another question and then happened to mention that she had three bunches of dang beets crowded in her fridge from her last several CSAs and dang if she didn't have a clue what to do with them. I needed to scramble to finish some work, so I promised a list of my favorite beet recipes post-haste.

Life has a way of rolling ever onward and I am only now getting around to sending her that list. My mother has informed me that her beet situation is now reaching critical levels. For her, for you, for all of us suffering from CSA overload, I give you my utmost favoritest beet recipes.

P.S. We've been doing a Family History Week over on The Kitchn and I did a little interview with my mom about her memories of her mother cooking, her favorite foods, and what it was like growing up in a family of six. It was a really sweet to hear her stories. Check it out:

Liver for Dinner & Raspberry Pie: An Interview with My Mother

My Top 8 Most Favorite Beet Recipes


My Kitchn colleagues and I are fanatics for beets, it seems. Over the years, we've amassed enough beet recipes that it could be a category all its own. Those listed here are the ones I cook again and again. All the following recipes come from The Kitchn. 

1. Sauteed Rainbow Chard with Raw Beets and Goat Cheese
2. Beets on Crostini with Goat Cheese
3. Beet and Sweet Potato Stacks
4. Golden Beet and Barley Salad with Rainbow Chard
5. Beet Salad with Romesco Sauce and Spring Greens
6. Roasted Beet Salad with Barley, Feta, and Red Onion
7. Fennel, Beet, and Orange Salad
8. Seared Bitter Greens Salad with Roasted Beets, Spiced Pecans, and Roquefort

And just in case you need it, here's how to roast beets in the oven.

Do you have a favorite recipe for beets?

Ask Away! Have a Really Good Pulled Pork Recipe?

Say hello to Cheater's Pulled Pork. So good! (reviewed on The Kitchn)

From my lovely mother-in-law: Hey Emma, one of my friends is asking for a really simple pulled pork recipe. Any suggestions?

Glad you asked! In fact, I do have a really simple pork recipe. And doubly in fact, it's my most favorite pulled pork recipe ever. This is owing to the fact that it makes the best, most tenderest, and most flavorful pulled pork I have ever had the pleasure to put in my mouth.

I can't claim credit though. That goes to Mindy Merrell and R. B. Quinn, their book Cheater BBQ, and The Splendid Table radioshow for bringing the recipe to my attention in the first place. Here it is:

• Ultimate Cheater's Pulled Pork via The Splendid Table

There are two secrets to this recipe. One is the use of a slow-cooker, which allows the tough pork butt (or shoulder) to slowly and gently cook into fork-tender perfection. The other is the addition of liquid smoke.

Now, friends, liquid smoke is not as scary as it sounds. It's really just smoke (real actual smoke) that's been distilled with water. It's legit. No artificial hocus pocus here. And it gives this cheater's pulled pork that infused smoky essence as if it has been sitting in a smoker for eight hours instead of just chillin' in the slow-cooker.

That's it! I love this recipe to porky little bits and have made it a great many times over the years, always to much critical acclaim. By the by, this slow-cooker method works equally well for cooking goat, beef, or lamb. Since I'm not always in the mood to taste camp fire, I sometimes leave out the liquid smoke and sub in some chicken or beef broth instead. Excellent stuff!

Go forth, friends. Go forth and pull.

• Get The Book: Cheater BBQ: Barbecue Any Time, In Any Weather by Mindy Merrell and R. B. Quinn
• Read the Full Recipe Review: Ultimate Cheater Pulled Pork on The Kitchn